News

Stuart Subotnick, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Brooklyn Law School, announced today the search for a new dean. Effective July 1, Joan G. Wexler will be the Law School’s President and Professor Michael A. Gerber will serve as Interim Dean.

“The operation of the School has grown both in size and complexity over the past two decades and the Board has decided to separate the executive academic and executive business functions,” Subotnick said. “The Dean will be chief academic officer of the school and the President will be the chief executive officer.”

The Law School will conduct a search to fill the position of dean during Gerber’s interim leadership.

“Professor Gerber will be a wonderful Interim Dean,” Subotnick said. “He understands the operations of the school, is respected and well-liked by students and colleagues, and has strong ties to our graduates and the practicing bar.”

Gerber, who joined the faculty in 1981, has served as an Associate Dean since 1991. He teaches and writes in the areas of bankruptcy and business reorganizations and will continue to teach while serving as Interim Dean. Gerber has served on many key faculty committees and is Co-Director of the Barry L. Zaretsky Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Fellowship Program. He is co-author of Business Reorganizations, and is a contributing author of Collier on Bankruptcy. He has also served as on-site director of the School’s Beijing Summer Program. He is a graduate of New York University College of Arts and Science and New York University School of Law.

“We are well-positioned to attract an outstanding dean thanks to what Dean Wexler has enabled the School to accomplish throughout her sixteen years of leadership,” Subotnick said. “During her tenure, many extraordinarily talented scholars were recruited to the faculty. The Law School also attracted a superb group of students and the financial aid program was greatly expanded. Alumni, inspired by her leadership, have given generously to support her vision of the Law School. We look forward to Wexler’s continued sophisticated oversight of the School’s business affairs, including its real estate assets, and expertise in strategic and budgetary planning.”

Wexler, who was appointed to the faculty in 1985, became Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 1987 and Dean in 1994. Under Wexler’s leadership, annual giving has grown tremendously and donors established ten named faculty chairs. Two new Centers of Excellence were established, and the number of students appointed to distinguished federal clerkships dramatically increased. Wexler undertook an ambitious and successful capital endowment campaign and built Feil Hall, a 22-story residence hall housing students and faculty.

She is well-known and highly regarded in the legal community. She is a past president of the Federal Bar Council, and past vice president of the New York City Bar Association and the New York Women’s Bar Association. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Yale Law School. She also holds a Master’s degree in teaching from Harvard University.

Founded in 1901, Brooklyn Law School is a vibrant intellectual community whose faculty bring teaching excellence, cutting-edge scholarship and practical legal experience to an accomplished, diverse student body. With a broad and innovative curriculum, Brooklyn Law School successfully prepares students for a wide range of careers in private practice and public service.